Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Champs Elysees, Tour d'Eiffel, River Tour

Having recovered from the world's worst grilled beef dinner the night before, we made a fresh start today. Quick breakfast at our hotel after 11 hour nap, then by bus to the Metro, and by Metro to the Louvre. Popped up next to I.M. Pei's glass pyramid, marveled at the lack of crowds and discovered that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.

Turned away from the world's largest palace and walked to the Tuilleries in search of L'Orangerie. Also closed on Tuesdays. Continued through the Tuilleries to Place de la Concorde and the Obelisk, then on to the Champs Elysees. Walked the length of the Champs to the Arche de Triomphe with a brief stop at George V Cafe for a 6E glass of water for Reg and a 4.5E espresso for Paul. Then flashed our Paris Pass and rode the elevator to the top of l'Arche for a great view over Haussman's Paris.

Back down to catch the number 22 bus to l'Opera de Paris to track down the Big Bus de Paris for our included hop-on-hop-off tour of Paris. Finally located the office after a few miles, secured complementary tickets, boarded bus and hied off to the Musee de l'Orsay for a blitz of the Impressionists on the fifth floor. Up escalators and all elevators non-operational, all cafes and restaurants standing-room only. Eventually, sated on Manets, Monets and Degas, scarfed a Gaspaccio in the 5th floor cafeteria, climbed back down all the stairs, boarded the next bus for the Eiffel Tower. Having seen the limited-to-8-stories view of Paris already from the Arche de Triomphe, we deemed it unnecessary to climb the tower, so we took a boat tour of the Seine for an hour. Then we walked the length of the Champs de Mars, hung a left and headed for the Rodin Museum. We discovered as we walked that it would be closed before we got there, so picked up some baguettes, pate, cheese and a nice bottle of Cotes du Rhone Villages which sold for the same price as the glass of wine at last nights inedible supper. Passed the Hotel des Invalides before Metroing back to our hotel, feasting on our groceries and collapsing.